Japanese Toyotas

Kadeshh

I've been looking at buying an imported japaneese car, namely a toyota levin. the only thing putting me off is that for 8,9,10 year old cars they seem to have very low milage on them...

Does anyone know if this is likely to be the real milage or would these cars have been clocked either once here or before coming over.

the only other explanation i can think of is that they all had one careful owner who only drove them at weekends...:D

Volvoboy

Hmm, alot of jap imports have 50k mls for a, as you said a 8 or 9 year old car never really understand why the miles are so low, maybe the lad on the boat with the screw driver has no imagination:D .


BTW Jap Toyotas are much better built English Toyotas:)



-VB-

Max_Damage

It could be the fact that many of them are stuck in Tokyo traffic quite alot.

bo-bo

its down to a few things.

because of the demographical situation in japan, most adults live and work very close to home.

traffic is MENTAL in japans larger cities.

public transport is very very good.

also, alot of the trade companies offer odometer verification on cars newer than 1993.

FX Meister

Isn't there original export documentation from Japan that has the milage on it? And the cars that are clocked here don't come with that? Friends brother imports Jap cars and he clocks the majority of them. As far as I know this happens a lot.

unkel

If you don't get the original auction report, you can bet money on it being clocked

Kadeshh

obviously i will look more carefully into whatever car i think looks good, on a similar note anyone ever had any dealings with www.tradesalesireland.com, they seem at first looks to be a fairly professional outfit...

OKenora

Japanese people love owning cars but 2 things stop them abusing their cars and using them a lot.

1: Too many people and not enough space, it really is that bad, there simply is no room to drive meaning that a car is not usually the preferred mode of transport and it's not unusual for Japanese people to only use the car occasionally and at weekends.

2: VERY VERY stringent emissions regulations, which mean that even at 30-40k the cars are struggling or even failing the tests. So they send their failures over here where we buy hem in droves.

There is a huge supply of low mileage Japanese cars. I hate to say it but the bad rep Irish car dealers have seems to be true and they are clocking Japanese imports just out of habit to squeeze the last cent out of the punter even though some are so low mileage anyway that there is no real need to clock them at all. They would still be a good and attractive buy with the real miles, albeit a few hundred euro cheaper.

The pride of car ownership in Japan but the inability to drive possibly is what has made the Japanese renowned for modifying their cars. You cant drive far but you want to look damn good when you do

drdre

unkel wrote:

If you don't get the original auction report, you can bet money on it being clocked

Yes 99% of the jap imports are clocked.

J4mie

Also be aware that alot of Japanese dont bother to service their cars because they dispose of them after a few years, so if you buy it straight of the boat do everything, Timing Belt, Plugs, All Fluids, Etc, Etc.

Also shop around for parts, I used to work for a Toyota dealer in Cork and the added 35% to all parts for Jap Imports!!!:eek: and 10% to the retail price of all other parts, so it is worth ringing around.

Good Luck:D

TJJP

Kadeshh wrote:

I've been looking at buying an imported Japanese car, namely a Toyota Levin. the only thing putting me off is that for 8,9,10 year old cars they seem to have very low mileage on them...

Does anyone know if this is likely to be the real mileage or would these cars have been clocked either once here or before coming over.

drdre wrote:

Yes 99% of the Japanese imports are clocked.

unkel wrote:

If you don't get the original auction report, you can bet money on it being clocked

Don't often disagree with drdre or unkle, but '99%' and 'bet on' seems a bit strong. 40k on a older Japanese car isn't unusual there... it when they get here or stop off on the way.

FX Meister wrote:

Isn't there original export documentation from Japan that has the mileage on it?

Auction and shipping report should record this, service history (although Japanese) should record this too.

The Levin isn't all that in Japan, never was, Celica, Curren, Levin is the pecking order. More likely the boy racers go for a Skyline or Vigor if they can. Most Levin’s have a sedate life there, with a population of close on 128 Million there are quite a few about. I had a friend with one, never saw more than 6kms a day (not necessarily good) nor 4,000rpm.

If you can check the seal on the window, the blue sticker will tell you where it was from, if its on it. Tokyo or otherwise, its Japanese, but not rocket science. If its there pm me a photo and I'll get back quick-smart.

bo-bo wrote:

its down to a few things. because of the demographical situation in japan, most adults live and work very close to home.

That’s a no-no bo-bo. Many do, but many don't and that’s an important point here.. Very few would think of driving more than a 100 clicks as the train is easier and better, not so much traffic but parking is a pain in the behind. If going on business driving would be most unusual...

OKenora wrote:

Japanese people love owning cars but 2 things stop them abusing their cars and using them a lot.

1: Too many people ...

2: VERY VERY stringent emissions regulations....

There is a huge supply of low mileage Japanese cars. I hate to say it but the bad rep Irish car dealers have seems to be true and they are clocking Japanese imports

They do love their cars, and following from above as they aren't work mobiles (not levins anyways) they are a leisure item and well minded.

Regular service and shaken are a must and means most cars are in tip top shape or exported to used markets. Lower grade go east or middle east. Better ones come here.

But as Okenora said, it’s the local dealers to worry about.

Answer: I don't know, would have to see it. Might not be as bad as suggested though. Even if clocked wouldn’t have more than 70K km’s on it and would have been better minded than anything here.

c4cat

I used to live in Japan and survived on exporting used cars to UK, NZ and Ireland so here is the lowdown.

A 9 year old car is considered worthless junk in Japan and can be bought for less then E100, cost of getting it to Ireland No more then E1500 tops work out the VRT on Revenues web site Import duty is 10% of the Japanese invoice price and cost of freight then add VAT to the car invoice cost, Freight and duty and you get the landed price in Ireland. Your Dear here is making about E2000 when he sells it to a punter like yourself and I will G'tee he will pitch his price at a margin around E3000 above his total cost price.

TJJP

J4mie wrote:

Also be aware that a lot of Japanese don’t bother to service their cars because they dispose of them after a few years, so if you buy it straight of the boat do everything, Timing Belt, Plugs, All Fluids, Etc, Etc./QUOTE]

Word beginning with b and ending x springs to mind. Any such conveyance would rarely end up on the market here. Have a look at some of the taxis in Dublin. That's the dregs of the Japanese export market, anything worse in gone elsewhere. World population: 6,453,628,000, Japanese population 124,000,000 Irish population 4,500,000 and they just decide to send their crap used cars to a country with the strongest economy in Europe (in recent years). Notwithstanding that service and NCT (equivalent) are light years ahead of anything we have here.

For example my BMW dealer only comes close to my former Toyota garage in Japan. I haven't had a card from Murphy and Gunne yet telling me they 'will' be round to pick up my car from my office for service at 10.07 next Tuesday (yes, 10.07 am and Toyota were there).

Bad used cars are long gone on the ferry to Vladivostok. Its only 100km by sea.

Sorry, getting way off topic, OP if it looks good, any you've done all the checks (all the checks) then it probably is good.

Search boards for 'my POS Japanese import blew up and I couldn't find parts and when I did they were non standard and cost me a fortune'. Doubt you'll find many realistic examples.

Mind you, I heard of a Mitzi FTO blowing a gearbox once, knowing the driver and the FTO it wasn't a surprise.

Cheers, TJJP.

TJJP

c4cat wrote:

I used to live in Japan and survived on exporting used cars to UK, NZ and Ireland so here is the lowdown. A 9 year old car is considered worthless junk in Japan and can be bought for less then E100.

Spot on c4cat. Price is important too.

Question here though, given a 9 yr old Irish or Japanese motor, knowing what you know, which would you opt for? Levin in particular.. perhaps...

ctc_celtic

i've seen a few jap cars that have defiantly been clocked, but the stupid thing is, some of them were clocked but i dont know why they bothered.
one an ITR, had 53k km on dash, but a sticker on the OUTSIDE of the filter stating 66k km and a (jap)date that was only a 3 months before the car was exported. why did they even bother for 15k km?? i can see why the b*****ds would do it and turn it back 60k.

also my 1995 MR2 was imported in 2003 and only had 10k km. i have the history and auction sheets, so there can be some very low mileage cars. 50k on a 10 year old car is not something to get worried about, just do the same checks you would do on any other car and buy with your eyes open.

c4cat

I agree The Levin is a great car and used cars in Japan are in great condition compared to Ireland. , but only if I went back to Japan and sourced one myself would I have one in Ireland. I could never buy one from a Dealer here knowing what I know!!!!. My advice If one wants a car with low milage that around 8 to 9 years old, get a UK spec car from the UK, VRT around E400 no Duty or Vat to pay, If you want a Japanese Import Check out Japanese Yellow pages for Used car exporters who will take you to a Japanese car auction. bid for a Levin thats Low Milage 3-5 years old, Total cost would be a little bit more then buying a 8-9 yr old car from a Dealer in Ireland

Yuroshiku!!

TJJP

c4cat wrote:

Yuroshiku!!

Gambatte kudasai.....

c4cat

bi crista!! anata mo, nihongo wakaru!! Are you in Japan now!!

TJJP

Zenzen, been a while since I was over, stuck in Baile Átha Cliath now....

c4cat

I agree The Levin is a great car and used cars in Japan are in great condition compared to Ireland. , but only if I went back to Japan and sourced one myself would I have one in Ireland. I could never buy one from a Dealer here knowing what I know!!!!. My advice If one wants a car with low milage that around 8 to 9 years old, get a UK spec car from the UK, VRT around E400 no Duty or Vat to pay, If you want a Japanese Import Check out Japanese Yellow pages for Used car exporters who will take you to a Japanese car auction. bid for a Levin thats Low Milage 3-5 years old, Total cost would be a little bit more then buying a 8-9 yr old car from a Dealer in Ireland

Yuroshiku!!

unkel

TJJP wrote:

Don't often disagree with ... unkle, but ... 'bet on' seems a bit strong.

I don't think I disagree with you on this one. My point was really that buying a car without any documentation / history isn't a good thing. If I bought a car that was auctioned in Japan and the person selling it to me would refuse to hand me over (a copy of) the auction report, I'd be wary, very wary